McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson to step down end of February

McDonald’s Corporation Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson is stepping down from the helm of the world’s largest restaurant chain on March 1.

Thompson, the 51-year-old former president of McDonald’s USA who took the global helm in July 2012, had the challenge of adding to nearly nine years of sales gains at established restaurants.

The following September, McDonald’s reported a decline in same-store sales as it fought to hold on to customers with changing tastes and amid external pressures ranging political and economic turmoil in Europe to food safety scares in China.

McDonald’s warned last week that business would be weak in the first half of 2015 and said it would cut its annual construction budget to the lowest in more than five years as it opens fewer restaurants in struggling markets.

According to a 2008 story in the Guardian, business was stalling in the early 2000s. The fast-food chain is also under pressure in the United States from a surge in competition from upstarts such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Chipotle Mexican Grill and other smaller, regional food outlets which are seen as offering fresher and higher quality products.

Prior to his assignment as CEO, Thompson a 24 year veteran of the company,had been responsible for global strategy and operations for its more than 33,000 McDonald’s restaurants in 119 countries.

Source: Reuters